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gives a circumstantial description of the ceremonies which were observed in honour of her in an island, which he does not name, but which could not have been far from Denmark[1]. We cannot doubt, but this same goddess was the Frigga or Frea of the Scandinavians. The word Frea or Frau[2] signifies a woman in the German language. When therefore the Asiatic prince came into Denmark, and had found the worship of Odin and his wife the Earth established, there is no doubt but the same people, who gave him the name of Odin
- ↑ Cluverius pretends that it is the isle of Rugen, which is in the Baltic sea, on the coast of Pomerania. Germ. Antiq. p. 134. Yet as Tacitus places it in the ocean, it is more likely to have been the isle of Heiligeland, which is not far from the mouth of the Elb. The Angles (Angli, from whom our English ancestors derived their name) were seated on this coaft: and Arnkiel hath shown in his Cimbric Antiquities, that the ancient Germans held this island in great veneration. The word Heiligeland, signifies “Holy Land.” See Pelloutier’s Hist. des Celtes. Tom. 2. Chap. 18. ——— Other learned men pretend that the isle in question was Zealand, but it is after all, not very certain or important. Vid. Mallet’s First Edit. T.
- ↑ The Lydians and other people of Asia minor acknowledged her under the name of Rhea, which is doubtless the same as Frea with a different aspiration. First Edit.
